Medal of Honor: Warfighter Hands On with Harra Dunes and Sarajevo Stadium

It was morning, at what seemed to be the 900th hour of the day. My platoon was ready to seize control of the north side of Harra Dunes. We rushed to our objective, checking corners and as a good sniper preemptive; we tossed a couple of smoke grenades for good measure. Once we were satisfied that the area was clear, we heard over the radio that the enemy got a hold of the south side of the Dunes.

Blood rushing and adrenaline pumping, we ran towards the center of the Dunes, knowing that it would be the enemy’s next target. Our snipers searched for high ground. The heavy gunner geared up for his tank stand. Assault soldiers run towards the target while I, the spec-ops of my platoon, quickly used my heat vision to detect how many tangos we had in our mark. Before we knew it, the bloodbath began as both sides met in one area, trying to hold the center of Harra Dunes.

I slid back undetected, and headed towards the east side of the Dunes. Most of the battle was concentrated on the west side which allowed me to move forward rather quickly. Taking cover by using broken buildings and large pieces of rubble was simple enough. As I approached the south side of the Dunes, my cover became more and more difficult to find. I hid behind a truck and used my heat vision once more. I found that the enemy was still converged in the center. The south side was now captured and my cover was blown. Finding me wasn’t that hard, shots were fired by the enemy while I tried to leave the area, but it was futile. Game over… until I re-spawned again.

I am talking about my experience playingMedal of Honor: Warfighter. I have never been in the military, or even understand many of the call signs for the greater part. My training has come from playing a scary amount of first person shooters. Once in awhile, a game comes that makes you feel like you are the real deal. I say that with the utmost respect to those who are actually in the military, that have served or are serving currently. The fact that it made me feel like if I was a real soldier, speaks ever so highly about Warfighter. It is hard not to get in the game and feel that your life is actually in danger.

Harra Dunes for Sector control is a very fast paced map with clear paths, and beautifully rendered areas. Even on the early build I played, Frosbite 2 shined like no other game engine. Breathtaking places, amazing lighting, and textures made it difficult to not stop and smell the flowers. If this map is of any indication how the rest of the game is going to be, you should run and pre-order now.

Sector control is very similar to “territories” or “land grab.” There are three spawn points: north, center and south. Depending on where you spawn, you’ll capture north or south first. The best part of this map is that it is not symmetrical, giving each side a fair chance and different gameplay than we have come to expect from this type of game. With games like Sector Control, my main concern was what usually happens with this game type: capture A, capture B, capture C while losing A, rinse and repeat. Due to how the map is laid out, setting C to the far side of the map (west or east depending on your spawn point) allowed for the rest of the map to be utilized and gave several routes to be able to capture north and/or south. It made it nearly impossible for any one team to be able to hold the middle of the map like an impenetrable wall. This also took some of the frustration out, since there was always hope you could change the tide of the game from losing to winning, or fear if you were on the winning side. Maps like Harra Dune and Sarajevo Stadium (another map I got to play with) really emphasized team play.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter multiplayer really wants you to play well with others. The better you play with your teammates, the more lethal and rewarding the experience becomes. Rage quitting was something that seemed like it was going to happen at any moment, from the other team, once my team started to work like a well-oiled machine. You won’t need fancy modded controllers, or use hacks to get a leg up with it. Just find yourself some friends who are not afraid to play like team and not a group of lone wolves, and you have it made.

Sarajevo Stadium has vast amounts of structures, places to hide, and tons of cover; enough to allow you to plant the bomb in the game type “Hotspot.” We had three different spots around the target to plant the bomb, thus giving you more tactical options. Sarajevo feels huge, even though it’s another fast map. There were many places to set up camp if you are a Sniper, but still enough places to find alternative routes if you played Spec-Ops.

I kept choosing the Spec-Ops class, even though at first I tried to stay with Assault and even tried Sniper class, something I usually don’t touch. Not even with a 10 foot pole. I was pleasantly surprised, that even though I don’t play a Sniper on a regular basis I was still effective and productive when I chose it. I bounced around all the classes, spending a long time with the Heavy Gunner and it’s wonderful Tank Stand. This is the class set second option and it comes complete with moving slowly and taking more damage than normal. This worked well for some game types like Hotspot, as I tried frantically to plant the bomb, but overall I found Spec-Ops to be more fitting to my game style. So once I went Spec-Ops, it was hard to put it down. Being able to see your enemies for a split second and call them out to your teammates, was a slight advantage that I could not pass up.

The special Spec-Ops Vision can also work against you, as it makes a high pitch noise, like an old camera flash when you use it. So detecting a Spec-Op in your area was easy once they used their perk. Sadly, I can’t go into details about guns and the like, so trust me when I say that you’ll be satisfied with what the game has to offer.

Medal Of Honor: Warfighter will be available in the United States on October 23rd. Pre-ordering Medal of Honor also gets you access to the Battlefield 4 Beta and a special tin case from Amazon.com. They are a ton of pre-order offers and goodies for you to pick and chose from for your all your gaming needs. For now I’ll leave you with the “Preacher Story” trailer. Frosbite 2 makes everything look so good!